Dreamers Can Dream
by Adatrix
Summary: Filling in the blanks in the episode "Dream On." Artie/Tina, with appearances by Quinn and Mike. First fanfic, please review! I appreciate all feedback.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Artie could hear the strains of "Dream a Little Dream" and the tap-tap-tapping coming from inside the choir room. It wasn't a Glee day but Tina and Mike were putting in extra practice so they could get their tap routine just right for rehearsal in the auditorium with everyone else at the end of the week. He told Tina he'd wait for her so they could head back to his house and study for their upcoming Biology test. He probably should have waited in the library or something, but it was like his wheelchair had a mind of its own and so he found himself sitting outside the choir room faster than you could say "tap duet."

He knew that listening by the door was only going to be painful. Maybe he was a masochist. If so, then every tap coming from inside the room was like a whip being cracked. Even though he had told Tina he was good, he was, in fact, not at all good.

_Ugh. I can't wait here. It's torture. I'm supposed to be the one dancing with her. Not Mike. _

Artie supposed that at least it was Mike – and not Puck – in there with Tina. Mike seemed harmless enough.

_But still._ _Tina's __**my**__ girlfriend._

The green-eyed monster was rearing its head big time and all Artie could picture in his head was Mike holding Tina in his arms. Mike dipping Tina. Mike…kissing Tina.

A sweet laugh, unmistakably Tina's, rang out from behind the door. She was clearly having a good time.

Artie dropped his head and rubbed his temples anxiously. When had he developed this pounding headache? Maybe he should just go and text Tina to let her know.

Artie turned his wheelchair around and slammed right into someone's shins.

"Ouch! Christ, Artie. Watch where you're going!"

Artie's head snapped up and saw Quinn rubbing her shins, looking down at him somewhat imperiously.

"Geez, Quinn. You scared me!"

"_I_ scared you? You wheeled into _me_!" Quinn retorted.

"I'm sorry...are you OK?" Artie said, somewhat distractedly.

Quinn looked down at Artie's furrowed brow, and looked up again, peering through the glass window to the choir room.

"What are you doing here? Were you waiting for Tina?"

Artie put on his best macho, I-don't-give-a-flying-fuck voice. "Nah. I was just passing through. I was gonna let her now that I'm heading home. You know, she wanted me to wait, but I don't just hang around waiting for some chick."

Quinn arched an eyebrow and stared at him._ What a dork_. "Puh-lease. Drop the act. I know you were eavesdropping, and I know it bothers you, because you've been too busy being angsty to notice that I was standing right next to you for like…5 minutes."

Artie blushed and started wheeling himself down the hall, not caring whether or not Quinn was even following. "What are _you _doing here, anyway?"

Quinn held on to her ever-growing belly and half ran-half walked to keep up with Artie. "Puck. He has his stupid fight club, and I'm waiting for him because he's my ride home. Well…back to his home anyway."

They walked (or rolled, as the case may be) down the hall silently.

"Do you want to talk about it? We could sit outside and wait for them."

Artie stopped short and looked up at Quinn incredulously "Hold up. _You_ want to talk to me?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Chalk it up to my hormones, OK? I like you and Tina. You guys were nice to me when the whole Finn-Puck-pregnancy crap was going down. And…let's face it. I'm fat, and getting fatter by the minute. The Glee kids are my only real friends these days."

Artie softened. "C'mon. Let me buy you some ice cream from the truck that's always outside."

* * *

They sat at the picnic tables, in comfortable silence, eating their ice cream.

Quinn devoured the last of her Strawberry Shortcake bar, wiping a smear of ice cream off her chin.

"So. Wanna tell me what's going on with you and Tina?"

Artie groaned. "I was sort of hoping the ice cream would make you forget."

Quinn grinned. "No way. You have to throw in pickles to make that work. Now come on, spill. I can tell it's eating you up. And I won't tell anyone if you cry."

Artie looked at Quinn. All joking aside, she seemed sincere. And he certainly wasn't going to say anything to his parents, or Kurt and Mercedes. He took a deep breath and out it all came. Tina finding his secret dream in the trash. Tina encouraging him to do a tap number with her. His stupid tap wheels. Him falling. Her research. His hopes raised, and then dashed again, thanks to reality in the form of Miss. Pillsbury. Tina choosing Mike Chang as her partner. And what they must be doing in that choir room.

All of it came flooding out like word vomit, and Artie couldn't even look at Quinn when finished. "Great. Now you think I sound like some weepy chick," he grumbled under his breath.

Quinn patted Artie's shoulder awkwardly. "Hey. You can't really believe that Tina would rather be with Mike than you. She likes _you_, Artie. I can't see her doing anything to jeopardize that."

"Even if that's true, look at me Quinn! I'm too damn broken to be her dance partner, to damn broken to even be a proper boyfriend. She wants to be a star, Quinn. And I'm holding her back," Artie said, frustrated.

"And let's face it. She only tried helping me with my dream so she could be with someone who was whole, someone who could twirl her around the dance floor," he finished, muttering under his breath.

"Cut the self-deprecating crap, Artie. You know that isn't true! If you told Tina your dream was to be the next Monet, she'd buy you an easel and all the oil paints you could possibly need. If you told Tina your dream was to be a director, she'd let you put her in all your crappy home movies even though she's ridiculously shy. Hell, if you told her your dream was to sit there and do nothing, she'd be there, sitting and doing nothing with you," Quinn said, her voice raising higher and higher until it hit that pitch that only dogs can hear.

"Do you know how lucky you are? To have someone who cares so much about you and _loves_ you? That tries so hard to help you achieve your dreams, even if her attempts are somewhat misguided? Someone you can be honest and vulnerable around? I'd give anything for that. I can't even tell Puck that I'd really rather watch _American Idol_ than _American Chopper_, much less tell him anything real."

Artie was silent, just letting Quinn's words sink in.

"You're right. I am lucky. I don't know why she picked me," Artie finally said, picking at a piece of lint on his sweater vest.

"She picked you because you're the only one she can tell anything real to, too. So don't ruin it, Artie…Look, there's Puck, so I have to go….but, you're good?" Quinn stood up and looked down at him, questioningly, her hand still on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, Quinn." Artie smiled up at her.

_If I can't dance with Tina, then I'm going to sing the crap out of that song. _


	2. Chapter 2

"And it's tap, tap, shuffle, tap. Pivot, two three four. Tap, tap, shuffle, tap."

Mike repeated the sequence with ease, and as he landed the last tap, he gave Tina a goofy look and some seriously exaggerated jazz hands.

Tina laughed. "You're such a doofus. I don't even know why you wanted the extra practice, you don't need it. It looks great."

Mike shrugged. "I guess I figured better safe than sorry. I didn't want to let you down. It's gonna be a great number."

Tina nodded, sighing as her mind wandered elsewhere, as it was prone to lately.

_Did I push him too hard? I shouldn't have convinced him to do a dance number with me. I should have known better…_

"Yoohoo! Earth to Tina." Mike's cheery voice broke through her reverie.

"Sorry. I was just…anyway, it's not important. Should we take it from the top?" Tina blushed, a little nervous at Mike's piercing eyes staring at her.

"Are you OK? I mean…you seem distracted. Like you're not really here. Look, I know we're not close, but…"

Tina laughed bitterly. 'You're right. I am distracted. I just keep thinking I ruined it all. _Again_."

She sat down at the piano and banged her head lightly against the keys. "I'm an idiot, Mike."

He joined her on the piano bench and awkwardly put his arm around her. "You want to talk about it? I'm not as dumb as I look. I know something's been bothering you."

After a few moments of silence, broken only by Tina's muffled sobs, Mike continued hesitantly. "Does this have anything to do with Artie?"

Mike took Tina's fresh round of tears as a yes.

"I found out his dream was to be a dancer. So I tried to be supportive in the _WORST_ way possible, like the ass that I am. I actually choreographed this tap number for me and Artie. I actually convinced him that there was a cure...for his condition…and I got his hopes up." She paused, a shuddering breath escaping her body.

"The fact is, he isn't going to be able to walk again. And I shouldn't have pushed him. I shouldn't have shown him all that research and gotten his hopes up."

She turned to face Mike, angrily wiping at the tears pooling in her eyes, dragging inky streaks of mascara across her face. "It _killed_ me. It killed me to have to say your name. I don't…I mean…you're a great dancer Mike…it's just…I wanted…him and me, to have that moment under the spotlight, together. I let my own crazy dreams overtake reality. I was so selfish, and now Artie is hurting. He says he's OK, but how can he be?"

Mike rummaged around in his pocket and fished out a crumpled tissue. "Hey, you're not selfish. You tried to make _his_ dream come true, from what I can tell. It's just…as much as I hate to admit it, there's some truth in what that douche Bryan Ryan said – not all dreams are achievable."

Tina nodded "I know. I knew, I mean. I knew that it was a long shot. I just wanted it _so badly_…and I thought if I wanted it badly enough, it would happen. Silly, naïve Tina."

"I get that. You look out for him. And you want him to have everything he wants. So, this time, it didn't go so well. Thing is, he'll find another dream, and you'll be right there, supporting him. He's a lucky dude."

Tina smiled a small, wan smile. "Thanks. You're…surprisingly intuitive."

Mike laughed. "Chalk it up to having two baby sisters. You become pretty good at dealing with fashion issues, boy problems, you name it, I've probably heard it."

Tina smiled again, this time a little bigger.

_Who would have thought that I'd be confiding in Mike Chang, jock and heartbreaker, of all people? Scratch that._ _Who would have thought he'd be such a good listener?_

"Three baby sisters. Don't think I'm going to stop harassing you with my scary girl tears and boy problems now. You're good."

Mike chuckled and held out his hand to her. "Three it is. Now, whaddya say, Tina? One more time?"

* * *

_**But in your dreams,**_

_**Whatever they be,**_

_**Dream a little dream of me.**_

Artie watched as Mike dipped Tina elegantly as he finished the last note in the song. He couldn't quite ignore the dull ache in his chest, but it was soon overtaken by a huge burst of pride.

_She's really, really good._

His Tina had choreographed that beautiful dance number. It was simply, breathtaking. Different from the big group songs they usually did and it had a lot more heart than the flashy dance numbers that Vocal Adrenaline churned out.

If Mr. Schue would let them do it as their breakout number, Artie knew it would blow the judges away.

"Hey, Artie." Tina's sweet, hesitant voice broke into his thoughts. He looked up to see that most of the glee club had left the auditorium.

"Tina- that was really, really great. You looked…" Artie swallowed the lump in his throat. _Why do I still get so tongue-tied around her?_

"You looked…beautiful."

Tina blushed a bright shade of pink. "You think so?" She paused for a moment, and then stammered "Are you…OK, with, you know…Mike?"

Artie nodded slowly. "I won't say that I didn't wish it was me dancing with you. But I _am _OK, Tina. Trust me. I get to sing the song for you guys, that's good enough for me. Not to mention, I'm the one who actually gets to kiss you," he finished with a wink.

Tina laughed. "It's true. You _do _get to kiss me." She bent down and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Artie pulled her face closer and deepened the kiss before she could break away.

"But seriously, You and Mike did a really good job. And I think Mr. Schue really liked it too. Hell, even Rachel was surprisingly complimentary. She _did_ say that she couldn't believe it, but that we were actually capable of expressing genuine emotion through song." Artie said, chuckling.

Tina grinned. "Give yourself some credit too. Your voice made the piece. We _are_ a glee club, you know. The dancing is a nice bonus, but your singing is what's going to win us this trophy."

"Pshaw, woman. You knew I'd bring it. Didn't I tell you I'd be amazing?"

Tina laughed heartily, and swatted at Artie's shoulder. "Your head is huge. I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because I can give you a ride home, that's why." Artie said, patting his lap invitingly.

Tina smiled, and with a quick peck on his cheek, she settled into his lap, holding her bookbag in her lap. Artie wheeled them out of the auditorium and towards the door, relishing the feel of her body leaning against his chest, the scent of her shampoo, the look on her face as she looped her free arm around his neck, smiling widely at him.

In that moment, he realized that he never wanted to be without her.

_Now, that's a dream I can make come true. _


End file.
